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Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Mocking Nurses? I Don’t Like That View.

OK, I haven’t been up on my soapbox in a while, so get ready, here I come—and with a subject near and dear to my heart. For those of you who don’t know, my mom was a wonderful, dedicated nurse for many years. Through Mom, I got to know many other great nurses too. That is why I was utterly disgusted to see the women of The View mocking a contestant on the Miss America Pageant—a nurse speaking of her work with Alzheimer’s patients. Miss Colorado delivered the monologue as part of the talent competition.“Why does she have a doctor’s stethoscope on?” asked Joy Behar. Well, Ms. Behar, that is because nurses use stethoscopes too, and they use many other tools to save people’s lives. The ladies of The View went on to further mock the young nurse.Let me start this by saying I’m not a big fan of pageants—whether they’re judging young women on talent or intelligence, we all know that beauty is a big factor. That said, the act of a few ladies sitting on national TV and deriding a contestant who is speaking about a pretty noble job shows ignorance and a complete lack of good judgement. What kind of female image did they present? Certainly not one of solidarity or intelligence. No. One of cattiness and immaturity. Sure, ladies of The View, go ahead and give your honest views on various subjects. But is this really the best you can do? If you are against pageants, then attack the problem at the source: Talk about pageants’ psychological impact on young women and on society. Show that you are smart. Don’t present an image of women that I, and many, many others, do not want to share with you.Nurses—women and men—along with doctors, firefighters and teachers are the backbone of our society. They save lives, often putting their own lives on the back burner to help others. In most cases, they aren’t in it for the money. There are easier ways to make a buck. It’s a vocation. So the idea of a group of ladies having a laugh on national TV at their expense is disgraceful.Shame on you, The View.